At War in Love. The Shadow over Rhudaur Part IV

Chapter 9. Alarming Rumours

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Eryndil's house in Cameth Brin. Morning of November 6th
Written by Rian
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Caelen walked swiftly through town, arriving at Eryndil's door a little out of breath. “He MUST know something; he MUST!” she thought, desperately hoping that Eryndil was home and could tell her something to dispel the awful rumors that she had heard about Gimilbeth’s entourage. She took a minute to catch her breath and smooth her hair, and then knocked firmly on the door.

The door was answered by Eryndil's housemaid, who eyed the slightly disheveled Caelen with surprise, but pleasure – her day had been quite dull so far, and perhaps some more interesting things would happen now that the red-haired young lady was here again.

"Is Er ... er, Hendegil home, please?" inquired Caelen in as calm a voice as she could muster, realizing just in time that it would probably be better to ask for Hendegil instead of Eryndil.

"He ... er, she is, miss - come right this way, please," answered the housekeeper, ushering Caelen through the hallway and into a room where Hendegil and - oh, joy! - Eryndil were seated; Eryndil at a writing table, and Hendegil on a pretty little chair next to him. They both stood quickly to greet her, having a good idea why she had shown up there with such a pale face and distressed expression, as Eryndil had just finished filling his sister in on the dispatch that had been received from Captain Merendil.

"Hendegil," said Caelen, taking her friend's hands, and then suddenly finding that she could say no more. But her eyes quickly moved from Hendegil to Hendegil's brother with an imploring look, for surely he would know more about Callon ...

Hendegil gave Caelen's hands a reassuring squeeze and made her sit down on the chair, while she pulled up another one and sat down next to her friend. Eryndil turned his chair so that it was facing Caelen and sat down, saying with a bright smile which was meant to reassure her, "From the expression on your face, I'm guessing that you must have heard some wild palace gossip!"

"They said everyone was killed," she said in a anguished whisper, wringing her hands in her distress, her large grey eyes looking at him for an instant, then moving nervously all around the room like a wounded animal looking for a way out of a trap.

Eryndil sighed and shook his head. Those trouble-making gossips!

"Caelen, that's just not true," he started in a firm voice, but she didn't seem to hear him; she just kept wringing her hands and looking around the room, unable to focus on anything. Finally, he leaned over and took her hands firmly in his, trying to still their nervous motion as he had seen her brother do. Sure enough, it worked - Caelen calmed down noticeably after a few moments and looked at him as though she had just seen him for the first time that day.

"That's just not true, Caelen," he repeated firmly, giving her hands a slight shake for emphasis, as he had seen her brother do. "I know - I saw the official dispatch myself in a meeting last night with the King. And it certainly did NOT say that they were all killed!"

He waited a moment for this to sink in, and was pleased to see that she was listening now, for she stopped her nervous glancing around the room and looked back at him steadily, with some measure of comprehension in her eyes.

"What the dispatch said was that Captain Merendil was returning to Cameth Brin when he saw some signs of orc activity, so being the good soldier that he is, he decided to go and check things out." Actually, it was worded much stronger than that, but she didn't need to know that now.

Caelen bit her lip and nodded, but still couldn't speak. Her grip tightened on his hands, and she seemed to be drawing strength and calmness from him.

"Callon definitely knew how to calm her down," he thought, trying to concentrate on projecting confidence and security to Caelen through his hands, instead of noticing how soft and warm and delicate they were ... and how nice they felt in his … He gave himself a little mental shake, regaining his train of thought which the feel of Caelen’s soft hands in his had temporarily derailed. Oh yes, there WAS some bad news that he had to tell her ...

"However, I do have to tell you some news that will be ... disappointing to you," he continued, choosing his words carefully. Caelen looked up at him quickly, but was reassured by his calm expression and the word "disappointing". It must be something pretty minor - and after hearing that the group hadn't been slaughtered wholesale, she could take anything now!

"After speaking with the King, I proceeded to find the messenger and speak with him myself," Eryndil continued. "Caelen... I'm afraid that Callon was taken along for the rest of the trip to Amon Sul. At best, that keeps him away until spring; at worst ... well, the Orcs appeared headed toward Gimilbeth's party ... but the King's men are well-trained and well-armed - I think he'll be fine."

"I just was at my desk, writing you to inform you that Callon would be a little later than we expected, when you came in. I figured you'd probably be hearing some wild, crazy rumors and be frightened - and I was right, wasn't I?" he finished with a smile, trying to show her how silly he thought those rumors were, and hoping devoutly that they wouldn't prove to be true.

This won a slight smile from Caelen, and her hands relaxed a little in his. "Do I still hold her hands now, or is now the time to let go?" wondered Eryndil uncertainly, and then thought that he probably better stay on the safe side and keep holding them; it really seemed to calm her down, after all ...

"You must think I'm terribly silly," she said ruefully, looking down, and realizing for the first time that Eryndil was holding her hands. "Oh!" she thought, a little confused. "I musn't act like I LIKE that he's holding my hands – not that I do, or anything! He's just trying to reassure me about Callon." She kept her face down, for she could feel a warm blush rising on her cheeks, and as they were right in front of her eyes, she looked at Eryndil’s hands. "Such nice, strong hands," she mused, looking at their sturdy masculine shape and noticing a few little scars here and there and wondering how he got them. She looked at the scattered dark hairs on his hands - she thought really hairy hands were ugly, and his were quite nice – just right, really - and then blushed deeper – what was she thinking?!

"No, I don’t think you’re silly at all!" said Eryndil, a softer note in his voice now. "I just think it shows that you have a warm and loving heart."

"Oh, that's too much," he thought suddenly with an inward groan. "She'll think I'm being too forward!" Thinking quickly, he added, "... towards your brother, and Callon and I are lucky to have sisters like you and Hendegil!" Caelen's hands now felt very warm indeed in his. He hoped his hands weren’t sweating too much and wanted to release her hands, but he wasn't sure how to let go of her hands without seeming to be disapproving of her.

Hendegil got up unobtrusively and busied herself looking over her knitting supplies, which were on a little table nearby.

"Oh, no, he must think that I'm being terribly forward by letting him hold my hands so long!" thought Caelen wildly, but she wasn't sure how to extricate her hands from his without seeming to disapprove of him.

The hand situation was now reaching a crisis point, with neither one of them knowing what to do, when suddenly there was a welcome interruption. Caelen's hair, which had been slowly moving across her shoulders as she looked down, suddenly tumbled down and fell across their joined hands.

"Oh, this HAIR!" exclaimed Caelen, withdrawing her hands with what she hoped was an ever-so-casual movement – an “oh, you were just holding my hands as a friend does in hard times, and it didn’t mean anything to either of us” casual movement - and pushing her hair back over her shoulder. "One of these days, I'm going to just cut it all off!"

There was a slight pause, and then ... "Don't," said Eryndil in a voice that made Caelen look at him quickly and then down again just as quickly. "It's beautiful," he said softly, watching her intently. She seemed shy and embarrassed, but not displeased ...

Another unruly lock of hair slipped down over her shoulder and hung there, shiny and beautiful ...

And Eryndil reached out his hand and slowly, gently, put it back over her shoulder, again watching her intently. Although she kept her face down, he could see that her lips had parted slightly and she was breathing rather quickly. As he withdrew his hand, he let it brush ever so lightly against her neck and saw with mounting excitement that she drew a quick breath and moved slightly towards him.

And then it was over - but he had learned volumes from her silence.

She pulled away from him and sat up straighter, avoiding his eyes while giving her hair a firm twist that put it in its place. They both cleared their throats and then did the little upper-lip scratching thing to show that things were all fine and casual - and then they both stopped unexpectedly and took a second breath as they smelled the scent of the other still lingering on their hands. And into both of their minds shot the memory of Eryndil carrying Caelen up to Hendegil's bedroom - Caelen remembering the scent of Eryndil's neck - a masculine scent, like her brother’s, but somehow different, unique … and … and nice - and how it grew stronger as he broke out into a slight sweat from his efforts; Eryndil remembering the scent of Caelen's hair as it caressed his face, silky and smooth, as she pressed her head close into his neck, and the feel of her soft skin against his as she clung to him ... His imagination suddenly seized the reins and started moving from the things that had happened, to the things that he would like to happen ...

Things were getting out of control.

Eryndil got up and went over to the window for some cooler air, making some comment about how nice the weather was, as the November wind howled and battered at the window. Hendegil, smiling broadly now, decided, out of pity for Caelen (who really HAD been through quite a lot recently) to not make the “a bit warm for you, brother?” comment that she was just dying to say, and instead added a few innocuous weather comments of her own, trying to make things more comfortable for everyone.

Eryndil was furious with himself for losing control like that, yet elated at Caelen's response to him. He had just been trying to see if Caelen had any feelings at all towards him, and then suddenly things had escalated far beyond what he had planned. He had always prided himself on being able to quickly and accurately assess any situation that he had found himself in, and cooly decide the best course of action to take, and carry things out efficiently and dispassionately. But this slip of a girl, with the large grey eyes and the warm, golden-red hair, was giving him more trouble than all of the orcs and outlaws that he had ever dealt with, combined! Frustrated, he watched the water in the fountain as it was blown about in the stiff November winds, and then got an idea.

“Hendegil, we have been remiss!” he said to his sister. “We have never offered our guest any refreshment! Let me just step out and tell the housekeeper,” he said as he moved quickly to the door – and for the first time in his life, Eryndil fled a battlefield.